July was a good month for both the adult trade and the children’s/young adult segments. According to figures from AAP’s StatShot program, sales in the adult hardcover category jumped 43.1% over July 2014, helped by the release of the blockbuster Go Set a Watchman. Adult trade paperback sales also did well in the month, offsetting a 6.7% decline in e-book sales and a 23.9% drop in mass market paperback sales. The children’s/YA segment, which had a difficult first six months of 2015, posted a 11.5% increase in July over a year ago. July’s gain was led by sales of board books (up 27.1%) and paperbacks (ahead 23.6%), which offset a 39% decline in e-book sales. For the first seven months of 2015, sales in the children’s/young adult segment were still down 8.9%, with declines in hardcover and e-books countering gains in sales of board books and paperbacks. Across all publishing segments, July sales were up 2.8% but sales in the year to date fell 2%. Sales for AAP StatShot are based on reports from 1,206 publishers.
| Category | Change July | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Hard | 43.1% | -0.9% |
| Adult Paper | 18.4% | 15.8% |
| Mass Market | -23.9% | -8.8% |
| Physical Audio | 15.5% | 6.9% |
| Audio Download | 33.8% | 41.0% |
| Adult E-book | -6.7% | -4.7% |
| Children’s/YA | 11.5% | -8.9% |
| Religious Presses | 14.6% | -4.9% |
| Professional | 33.8% | 23.4% |
| K–12 Materials | 1.4% | -6.4% |
| Higher Ed. | -3.3% | -6.0% |
| University Presses | 2.9% | -0.7% |
(Comparisons of $ sales against same period in 2014)
